hypocrisy, lies, betrayal, and suffering
by noruas bombadil
Summary: Hazel wants justice for his sister. what he finds is both far more valuable. and far more painful. and will start him down a long track of darkness. this takes place in the Jorge 6 prime universe. all reviews are welcome, read and appreciated. please be honest, kind and human.
1. Chapter 1

Hazel was nervous, he had track Gretchen's team leader to an old tavern in a ghost town somewhere in Mistral. From the shadows, Hazel watched the hunter in training drink himself into oblivion. It seemed fitting to Hazel, the man who was to blame for his sister's death was killing himself for Hazel. The only problem was it would take a few years. And Hazel didn't want to wait.

"You seek justice for your sister's death don't you?" Hazel wasn't aware the drunk before he even knew he was in the room but once Hazel knew his cover was blown he acted fast. He lunged forward trying to get his hands on the man he came here to kill. His lunge was met with a vicious pistol whip and the next thing Hazel saw was the muzzle of Edward Kovacs's gun.

This was it, Hazel's plan for justice thwarted by a drunk with a single pistol. He closed his eyes and waited for the end. At least this way he may see his sister soon. A second past the two then three. When Hazel finally opened his eyes he saw Kovacs back at the bar drink from his bottle of whatever liquor he favored. When Hazel looked back down he saw Kovacs's gun resting on his chest.

"You'll get your justice. But first I have to tell you why this all happened."


	2. Chapter 2

"Do you know why I asked to see you today Mr. Kovac?" Ozpin was far less intimidating in person. He seemed so powerful in the tales Edward had heard of and he was in truth he was a tall somewhat gangly man who seemed more like a bizarre hipster than a reincarnated wizard from tales of old.

"I am going to assume it is because I know that the story of the maidens is true and that you are the wizard reborn trying to stop an evil the likes of which the may never fully know of. And the fact that I know that the birds sitting on your shoulders are the Branwen twins who are both wanted in my native land of Mistral, as well as Atlas."

Ozpin's eyes betrayed him in that moment. He knew that the boy knew of the maidens but Ozpin thought that was the extent of his knowledge. It was sad to say but this changed the matter greatly.

" It seems that you are far more perceptive and intelligent than I had given you credit for. know this I rarely underestimate people. Now the matter at hand is that what you now know means that certain doors have been opened to you that to all others would be closed."

"NO!" Edward's voice carried authority and certainty " I want nothing to do with you or your little cult of followers. My team is not ready to act on that level and they never will be. So no before you ask I will not work for or with you. And that is final." in one sudden movement Edward stood and made his way to the door. As he looked around the office he noticed that Glynda was nowhere to be found. This put him on edge as the only reason that he could think of for this was that Ozpin didn't want to have any witnesses who had he didn't completely control. Understanding that if the headmaster or either the crow or raven on his shoulders wanted to kill him that they could, he needed to leave on a positive note.

"One more thing professor, your secret is safe with me."

" less than a month later me and my partner Walter Burke was summoned by Ghira Belladonna to a meeting in Mistral. It didn't seem too odd, Ghira was an old friend of mine. I was there when he started his protests against the SDC. and I had a great amount of respect for him. The only problem is it was a trap. Ghira never summoned us. Trust me if he had then the White Fang would have a different leader now."

Hazel watched as Edward seemed to remember the battle and his eyes filled up with pain. "I called for reinforcements, Burke was already hit. Ozpin tried to jam the signal but your sister didn't trust most communication methods so she made sure that we all had a distress signal. When I popped mine I was expecting to have the cavalry show up. It took her half an hour but your sister came in guns blazing. By then Burke had bled out. My best friend had died in my arms and I wasn't sure I wanted to be alive anymore. I tried telling Gretchen to run for it and get herself out but she said that I was the target here and that I needed to escape no matter the cost. She told me that the only way I could bring justice to Walter was by living long enough to bring down the son of a bitch who did this to him."

By now Edward had tears streaming down his face. In that moment Hazel knew why Edward was drowning himself in liquor, he wasn't guilty about Gretchen's death he hated himself forever living. If he never existed then Gretchen and Walter may still be alive.

"Before you take the shot, let me tell you something of the utmost importance. Gretchen was in her fourth year at Beacon. In her third year, she became pregnant. She didn't tell you because she was afraid of how her "baby brother" would react. The father is her partner Johnny Mcmurray. Before you think about killing him for not answering the distress beacon he never got it Gretchen didn't tell him so that he would stay. She wanted to ensure that one of the baby's parents lived. Your niece, she is named Penelope Hazlen Mcmurray.

Hazel was in shock. He had a niece. And she was named in part after him. Hazel looked at Edward and began to question whether or not he wanted to kill the man before him.

"One more point, before you pull the trigger. There is, in fact, an evil that exists that rivals the power of Ozpin. And her name is Salem. She can be found by those who have the courage to look for her on an unexplored continent to the north-west of vale. The trip would be long and perilous and you may not even survive but if you do then you may be able to get your justice after all."

Hazel had leveled the iron sights of the large pistol on the back of Edward's head. He didn't need to ask Edward why he would want to die. If Hazel had found him then Ozpin's assassins wouldn't be far behind. Squeezing the trigger he saw the hammer begin to rise and when he saw it fall he knew that he had taken his first step on a whole new journey. Now he needed to find his niece. Penelope Hazlen Mcmurray.


	3. Chapter 3

i opologize _for the need to update the chapter. I had a mix up with the chapter upload system and I for whatever reason uploaded an old stories chapter._

 _Noruas Bombadil_

* * *

Hazel left the bar after he layed Edward's body down to rest on the floor. He probably deserved better but Hazel couldn't do any better since he needed to get out of here before one of Ozpin's killers arrived. Hazel knew where to find John Mcmurray. He had made sure to know where both of Gretchen's surviving teammates were before he started his quest for justice.

He had covered a great deal of ground in a short amount of time. It was a testament to how good his cardio was. He had spent most of the day running. His legs and lungs would be sore and his lungs would be burning but his semblance would cancel the pain until he could rest. Granted he would need almost an entire day to recover from spending two or three days running but he still made far more progress than any normal hunter could he shouldn't have had his aura unlocked or his semblance but Gretchen had unlocked it anyway. "Any baby brother of mine needs to able to help those in need at any time." she had said. She also told him that his aura was a great gift and that he couldn't go around showing it off because for him to let people know he had it would not only bring legal danger but danger from those who may seek to take advantage of a young boy with access to a built-in forcefield.

His sister was odd that way, their parents were a complete mystery to Hazel. They had Gretchen 8 years before him and when they had him they seemed to be overwhelmed by the mental and financial stress of having two children they had tried to give Hazel up for adoption but no orphanages would take a child like him. After all, he was small and weak as an infant, nobody wanted to adopt a weak baby. Especially not out in the backwoods of Vale. They all thought he would die and when the fifth child's collection home turned him away his parents seemed to snap. Gretchen never liked to talk about it much but she did tell Hazel that they tried to leave him in the woods for a Grimm to find. The moment Gretchen had found out she began to plan her escape.

Later that day she noticed that her parents were both busy reading the map they were carrying to watch her. When they began to argue over which way to go she quietly slipped away and once she was outside of earshot she began to tear her clothes. What she did next seemed terrible to Hazel at first but was something he grew to live with. She caught a small rabbit slit its throat with the sharpest rock she could find and emptied its blood on the clothes she had torn off taking the rabbit with her she went back to were Hazel was left and from then on she did her best to raise him as though he were her son. It took him years to convince her to let him live with a friend during the semesters and to go train at Beacon. She was in luck as Ozpin had four applicants who all were too old to be placed on a conventional team but all passed to test to enter initiation.

All of this was owed to the friend who Hazel was staying with. A man Hazel only ever knew as Uncle Gal. Hazel was sure he had a last name but he never asked for it and as such he never got one for the man. But when Gretchen had gotten very sick he was the only one who could help her. Hazel was reluctant to allow some stranger to be alone with his sister. Since she was the only family he had ever known in his (at the time) seven long years of life. But Uncle Gal had insisted upon Hazel privacy. Claiming that "what I am about to do can be known to but a select few and while I am not above healing your sister I am above breaking my word so that you can watch." Hazel could still remember the look on the man's face that left no way of debating his words. True to his words he healed Gretchen and then began to train them both in the way of the blade. He said that a true warrior needed to master the weapon of his choice in order to master himself. And while he gave them the choice of not studying the sword he also told them that he only knew the sword and the gun. And that they were not being given guns yet so if they wanted to learn another style he was fine with that but they would need to learn it from someone else. They both enthusiastically learned to use the sword as though it were an extension of their own arm. Soon they were carrying them everywhere they went.

Among the many things they were taught by the was that your words must be chosen with the utmost care. For a strike from one's blade is just as permanent as the utterance of one's mouth. No word once spoken could be unspoken and swing once swung could be unswung. "Your words are a weapon that can be as deadly as any other should you learn to wield them properly, they can also take as much from the world as any weapon and should be treated with the same degree of reverence"

Hazel felt a tear fall from his eye as he thought back to the man whom he considered to be his true father. He had betrayed the man's trust when he took all the lien he could find around the house and left after he got the news about Gretchen. He wasn't sure if he could ever face him again. Not after what he did.

Looking up from the ground he was watching as he ran he saw a small house within. He approached carefully and when he opened the door he was met with an unbelievable sight.


	4. Chapter 4

John was packing frantically he had just received a call from Ozpin informing him that his team leader Edward Kovacs was found dead in a bar in Mistral. Apparently, Edwards had been dead for some time before the body was discovered by a Mistral Ranger. John didn't know what Edward did to earn Ozpin's wrath but whatever it was John knew it wouldn't end with Edward's death. Ozpin had deliberately kept a team of his students from being able to call for backup. And John was the last person who knew that and was still alive.

Needless to say, the moment Ozpin hung up John called an old friend of his whom he knew he could trust. Romerean Arc was an old friend of John's they had met in Beacon Romeera was in his fourth year when John was in his first. If it wasn't for the training Romerean did with him John wouldn't have survived his third year. When Rome graduated he told John to call if he needed backup.

So call he had. John couldn't tell if they would be here in time but if they were he was almost certain both he and Penelope would live. After all, Rome said he was bringing his whole team. Team JSPR were living legends. Their leader once fought the entire vital festival bracket alone. He not only won but he also did it almost single-handedly. If he was coming alone then John and Penelope would be safe.

He stopped packing when he heard a set of hard sole boots clicking on the boards of his front porch. Swiftly leveling his pistol on the door he flicked off the safety and waited. He was greeted by the sound of his door being kicked in at him. John dodged to his right and tried to keep his gun trained on the now doorless doorway. He wasn't fast enough however and the assailant had already entered the house and had with a swift swing cut his right hand off of his arm.

John instinctively drew in a breath to scream in pain only to have the air ripped from his lungs as a blade was rammed through his solar plexus. He dropped to the ground and found himself fighting for breath. "Please," he wheezed "don't take my little girl." the words were so soft and weak that Raven almost didn't hear him. And when she finally understood what he was saying she felt her heartbreak. There was a little girl around here somewhere. She lamented what she had to now do but Ozpin said no one who could identify her could survive. And if the child was too young to identify her then she was also too young to survive on her own. What this meant was that the child would die no matter she did and the only thing she could control was if she died slowly and afraid or quickly and afraid. Both choices shook her to her core. She was raised with killers and she was raised to be a killer. It was only her brother that managed to keep her from going back to her old ways.

And now Ozpin was holding that same brother over her head. If she had the chance she would kill Ozpin but she knew that chance would never come. If she could ever be able to kill the old man he would just be reincarnated later. So here she was, walking down to the room she heard the crying coming from. She took solace in the fact that the child may not know even know what was happening. When she opened the door she saw a boy who looked a little older than her holding the baby in one hand and a bag of supplies in the other. She reached for her sword. Now the boy couldn't leave here alive.

She was drawing her blade when a gunshot sounded and she felt a pain tear through her right shoulder. Looking back she saw that John had grabbed his gun in his left hand and somehow summoned the strength to aim and fire. In her shock, she felt two more burning holes rip through her and when she finally regained her control she realized that she had been shot three times with what seemed to be aura piercing rounds. Deftly she drew her sword with her left hand and threw the blade at John. the blade soared like a spear and sank to the hilt in John's chest. His gun fell to the floor as it slipped from his lifeless hand. Looking back to the room where the boy had been she saw the back door he entered through was now gone as he had simply run through it. Grunting in pain Raven ran over and removed her sword from John's body. She then started to run after the young man. She had barely made it to the turned when she heard the sound of a rifle's bolt slamming into battery. Snapping around she saw the source of the sound.

"Here you stand over the dead body of my friend," Romerean spoke from his place beside Jorge. It was Jorge who had released the bolt on his C.A.S.A.C.O.M. putting the weapon into battery as Romerean had his family sword Crocea Mors in his hand. She quickly tried to run out the back only to be greeted by two men in full body armor and Black combat helmets that obscured both their Identities and their voices. "Where do you think you are going lady," the large one said as he filled the door with his towering and imposing frame. "I think she was planning to run," said his partner.

Raven had heard of this team. The weapons they carried gave them away. This was team JSPR. the leader was Jorge Telmarvak. Ozpin knew almost nothing about his past. It seemed as though he simply appeared on Remnant at the age of 17 when he joined the Shade academy and founded the first inter-kingdom team. They were based in Beacon since Romerean was from Mistral, Jorge was from Vacuo, and the other two were from Atlas. Speaking of the rest of the team there was Romerean Arc who was the archetypal Arc warrior. And Saint and Pirus. Though she knew that those were the names of the two armor-clad Atlesians she didn't know which name belonged to which man. All in all, she was about head deep in a pile of Ursa shit. She probably couldn't take any of these guys alone if she was fine. But now she was leaking from three minor gunshot wounds and they were all here. Dropping her sword she calmly said "I surrender. Feel free to take me into custody." she winced in pain as Romerean jerked her shoulder around and locked a pair of handcuffs around both her wrists.


	5. Chapter 5

Hazel was running for almost three hours before he stopped to look at the child in his arms. He was first taken aback by the fact that the child was still screaming. He didn't know how to stop the baby from screaming and he was panicking so he ignored her and just kept running and running. He only stopped when he reached the edge of Vale where it met with the kingdom of Atlas. Taking a breath and trying to ignore the somehow still screaming baby in his arms he entered the nearest building and was less than thrilled to find out that it was a run-down strip bar. Hazel had no care for women before and the crying child in his arms took priority over any level of attraction he may have felt now. Hazel knew that he needed to sleep soon and that Penelope was also getting tired herself. Calmly he walked over to the bar and tried to get the bartender's attention.

"The little one is hungry you know" the voice had come from beside him and when Hazel turned to see who had spoken to him he was greeted with the sight of a tall lightly built drunk man. The man seemed to have a chin covered in hair that hadn't been shaved in days. Hazel didn't know what to say to him so he just stared. "Well, you know that the child is hungry don't you." if he was being honest the thought of Penelope being hungry had never truly occurred to him. He then realized that he knew nothing about raising a child. Looking down at the crying bundle he clutched to his chest he saw not his niece but his sister. She had her mother's nose. For the first time since he first opened the back door to John Mcmurray's house, Hazel only remembered seeing John get his hand sliced off and then get stabbed. Acting fast Hazel had grabbed the first packed looking bag he saw and then he had grabbed Penelope and started running.

"Are you going to answer me or are you going simply continue to gaze wistfully as though you are pontificating the true point of being alive." looking back to the man who now seemed to be annoyed at the fact that Hazel hadn't given any sign of acknowledging his attempts to communicate with him.

Thinking before he spoke Hazel said "since I had not responded or expressed any opinions with or unto you then I have not spent the previous several seconds pontificating. I was merely collecting my thoughts in regards to what has transpired on this day and the lasting implication that are even now being levied against me."

The man seemed to catch his own grammatical error and looked at the boy with a gaze of interest. "You are an educated young man, tell me where did you conduct your studies.?"

Once more Hazel was silent before answering. "In a room with a man far wiser than me"

Once more the man seemed impressed. Turning back to the baby he said. " well, since you know how to answer a question without answering it and I don't wish to spend the time it would take to outwit the answer out of you I suppose I should just get right to helping you than." turning now to the bartender he said "Louis, put my current bill on my tab and tell anyone who is looking for me that they can meet me in Hell would you."

After an amused laugh, the bartender said. "Your tab is never being recorded, sir and I will happily pass the message onto any idiots looking for you. Have a nice evening sir."

Hazel was confused, to say the least. Why would this man not pay his tab? And why would the bartender so readily lie for him?

"Follow me," the man said as he started for the door. "My name is Arthur by the way."

As Hazel found himself falling into step with the man walking before him he felt that his polite nature demanded that he respond. "My name is Hazel Reinhart." realizing that he used his full name and Arthur only used his first he was about to lament his mistake. In silence the continued on until they had crossed the street and were now walking through the door of what Hazel determined to be a hotel. When they reached the door Arthur opened it and walked inside. He left the door open as an invitation to Hazel to follow him. When he reached one of the chairs that seemed to be in the living room and sat down he looked at Hazel who was still holding a screaming baby.

"Well don't just stand there come in a close the door." his words were spoken with both confidence and authority so Hazel obeyed them. After he closed the door and took a seat in a chair facing Arthur the older man spoke. "First of all, my last name is Watts. And I want to help you. The child is hungry and I doubt it is no longer on formula so allow me to help you in that endeavor." rising from his seat he began to look through some boxes that had a strange symbol printed on them. Hazel knew that the symbol was the mark of the SDC but he had no idea why this man would have it on his boxes. Or why anyone with that symbol was here.

"What is formula?" Hazel didn't know why he asked what he felt must have been an incredibly stupid question but truth be told he had next to no idea how to care for a child and this one was still crying and he was losing his mind so any help this Arthur could offer would be highly appreciated.

Looking at the boy in shock Arthur understood that while he may have a formal education he may not have studied child development.

"He have a lot of work to do," Watts said as he began to show Hazel how to care for the crying baby.


	6. Chapter 6

**thank you all for reading my story as always reviews are** aprectiated **and read.**

 **Noruas.**

It had taken Watts almost two days to finally finish giving Hazel a crash course on baby care. He still didn't have the experience or confidence but he had the knowledge. This was good as Watts was reaching his limit on being around children.

now with his niece resting in peace in a crib that Watts seemed to have Hazel asked a question that he had been wondering for some time. "Why do you know so much about children?" the question posed by Hazel came from nowhere and whether he meant it or not he had just landed on a very sensitive subject. " you don't seem to have any. So I was wondering"

The boy was very astute. He must have noticed that there were no photos of any children in the entire hotel room. And that left the question of how he came by all the knowledge of child rearing that he possessed. Taking a deep breath and then taking another shot from his flask Watts answered the teen.

"I was almost a father once, but I made the mistake of loving the wrong woman at the wrong time. And now I have been forced from my home and my child will never know it's true father." after he finished speaking Watts felt the silent hot tears start rolling down his face. "I loved her and now I am never to see her again. Not for my own safety but for hers. If Jaques ever thought her guilty of any disloyalty he would kill her in the blink of an eye."

Hazel knew that he may not have meant to but he had just struck a nerve. "I am sorry." he said taking his time and selecting his words very carefully. "I did not mean to dredge up such painful memories." seeing that the man was still seemed to be drowning in pain Hazel approached him cautiously. "Do you want revenge?" Hazel said. He was planning to learn how to take care of Penelope and then make his way to the Grimm lands that Edward Kovacs told him of. Hazel wanted two things in this world. He wanted to kill Ozpin and he wanted to take care of Penelope. He would do everything that he could to satisfy both desires. And this Salem figure appeared to be the way he could do that.

Looking back to Watts Hazel saw the man stop sobbing and look up to meet the serious gaze of Hazel. His eyes were red from the tears but also held a fire that Hazel could only fully describe as vengeful. "How?" he asked.

"I have much to tell you of and I shall start with Ozpin"

 _ **And so began the partnership that leads Hazel and Watts to work with Salem. In the following years, Hazel would train Penelope to one day succeed him in the field of operations that he performed. It is however imperative to understand this neither Watts or Hazel is truly loyal to Salem. And though to them she is merely a means to an end they worked hard to conceal the fact that they knew each other. They even went so far as to display false animosity for one another. So they wait and do as the monster says. After all, the devil isn't the only one to manipulate the terms of a deal.**_


End file.
